To help stamp out the pervasive objectification of females in advertising, Badger & Winters created the "#WomenNotObjects" campaign. It debuted Jan. 11 last year with a video featuring women calling out sexist imagery, and it set social media abuzz.

"I love sacrificing my dignity for a drink," says one, showing a magazine spread of a Skyy vodka ad in which a bikini-clad model lies between the legs of a man dangling a bottle and martini glasses above her. "I am your mother, daughter, sister, co-worker," the ad ends.

A second video explains the harmful results of objectification, from girls' obsession with "thigh gap" to sexual assault. A final ad, which debuted at the 2016 Cannes Lions festival, turns the camera on children, capturing their reactions to such imagery. "It makes me feel bad about my body," says one young woman, while a boy, clearly upset, says, "I don't think it's OK to show them like that, because it's private."

The film closes with the line, "Maybe you don't see it anymore, but they do."

The campaign names (and shames) top-tier advertisers -- including Burger King, Carl's Jr., Calvin Klein, DirecTV and Equinox -- making it an out-of-the-box winner for the b-to-b category. It's also a compelling and effective message, and earned the campaign more than 45 million views in 175 countries and 1 billion earned media impressions -- the equivalent of $17 million in earned media -- according to the shop. Equally important, individuals from the ad and marketing industry's top firms signed a '#WomenNotObjects' petition.

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Ann-Christine Diaz

Ann-Christine Diaz is the Creativity Editor at Ad Age. She has been covering the creative world of advertising and marketing for more than a decade. Outside of the job, she can be found getting in touch with her own creativity.